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Report: Apple Places Large Flash Memory Order

Apple has placed orders for Flash memory large enough to constrain supplies and drive up prices for other manufacturers, according to a report from Taiwan-based newspaper DigiTimes. The paper reported Friday that Apple had placed orders for 100 million 8Gb NAND flash chips, with most of the orders going to longtime Apple supplier Samsung Electronics.

The report comes ahead of an expected update to Apple's iPhone product line this summer, adding fuel to the fire for those speculating that the device will soon include more memory, though the chips could certainly be used in the company's popular iPod line, as well.

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What shouldn't be lost from this story, though, is that Apple's ability to negotiate such large orders allows the company to secure pricing that its competitors can't get. The DigiTimes report said, for instance, that supplies of these 8Gb chips will be tight until the end of May, a fact that will drive prices higher.

Securing memory for the company's iPod line is one of the reasons why Apple, not known to be a value-pricer, has nonetheless been able to consistently have its iPod products compare very favorably to the competition in terms of price.